Brackley Town: 10 Things

Posted byKelly Gilchrist

Posted on Wed 29 Mar 2017

Posted inNews

­1. Brackley Town have never being in a league higher than the Vanarama National League North. The highest position the club has ever achieved was 3rd in the then-called Conference North in the 2012/13 season. The Saints defeated Altrincham in the playoff semis, but then lost 1-0 to a certain FC Halifax Town.

2. That game also conjured the record attendance for Brackley. 2,604 people flooded to St. James Park on May 12 2013, but it was only the Shaymen faithful who went home smiling.

3. The season after missing out on promotion was a memorable on for Saints fans. The club reached the Second Round of the FA Cup after beating Gillingham 1-0 in a first round replay. Macclesfield defeated Brackley in the next round, but the club once again defeated Gillingham in the First Round this season, before bowing out to Blackpool.

4. The club has made some recent FA Cup memories, but in terms of the FA Trophy, Brackley is not so successful. The club has never made it past the first round of the tournament, most recently reaching that point in the 2012/13 season, where they lost away to Guiseley.

5. The club’s most recent silverware came in the 2014/15 campaign when the club won the Northamptonshire Senior Cup. Brackley defeated Daventry Town, AFC Rushden and Diamonds, Cogenhoe United before beating Peterborough Northern Star 4-1 in the final.

6. Former Middlesbrough, Bournemouth and current Bristol City man Lee Tomlin is a former Saint. The attacking midfielder only spent two games at the club whilst on loan from Rusden & Diamonds in 2007; a club where he made over 150 appearances between 2005 and 2010.

7. Another well known name to grace the pitch of Brackley Town is former Chelsea and Leicester City defender Frank Sinclair. The Jamaican international made over 160 appearances for the Blues and the Foxes, winning the FA Cup and two League Cups in his time at both clubs. Sinclair made 13 appearances for Brackley in 2015 before retiring.

8. Changing rooms are now a staple of every football club. However, when the club played at Buckingham Road between 1968 and 1974, players would get changed in the nearby Plough pub. No halftime pints I’m afraid though.

9. The Brackley Morris Men are one of only seven ‘traditional Cotswold’ sides remaining, and are the only one left in Northamptonshire.

10. And although we’ll be travelling to Brackley for the football, you may be interested to know that the club has strong links to Formula 1. Brackley is the home to the Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team, and the Force India F1 team have a wind tunnel located in the town as well.